Domestic violence campaign focuses on bystander

A national awareness campaign that focuses on the bystander’s role in reducing the incidence of domestic and gender-based violence will be launched today by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald.

The campaign, an integral part of the second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-based Violence 2016-2021, will emphasise that more than 300,000 people in Ireland have experienced domestic abuse at some point in their lives.

Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, worked with advertising agency Cawley NEA/TBWA and communications firm PHD to develop and implement the campaign.

Speaking at the Safe Ireland Summit in Dublin yesterday, Cawley NEA/TBWA chief executive Deirdre Waldron said the campaign’s aim was simple: To create a safer Ireland for all by shifting attitudes towards domestic and gender-based violence.

“It is different to previous campaigns; it is not focused on the victim, it is not focused on the perpetrator, it is focused on the bystander,” she said. “When you hear about the prevalence of this issue in our society, every one of us is a bystander at some point in our lives.”

While the campaign would recognise that men and women both suffered from domestic and gender-based violence, it would be weighted towards women, Ms Waldron pointed out.

When the contracts were awarded to the two agencies last September, Ms Fitzgerald said the intention was to send a clear message that domestic and sexual violence was unacceptable.

“We want to change the culture; change the conversation, and change people’s thought process when they deal with domestic and gender-based violence,” said Ms Waldron.

Almost €1m was secured this year for the campaign, which includes a website, also being launched today, that shows how people can safely intervene when they witness violence.

Two television commercials will be broadcast on Friday during the Late Late Show, and the question posed by both is: ‘What would you do?’ They each feature a male and female bystander and are linked to the website, so people will know where to go and what to do when they witness domestic violence.

Master of the National Maternity Hospital Rhona Mahony, who also spoke at the conference, said around one in eight women suffered domestic abuse.

“In pregnancy, women are more likely to be assaulted in the abdomen than in the face,” said Dr Mahony, who said the hospital tried to talk to women when their partner was not present.

“Domestic violence crosses all racial, ethnic, and economic lines,” she said. “Even a highly professional, together woman can be hiding a secret but [is] too scared to tell her story.”

Meanwhile, a letter from a woman who had suffered domestic abuse and who had ignored the warning signs was read out by Ryan Tubridy on his radio show yesterday. The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, had typed the letter in case her former partner would see her handwriting, and had driven a good distance from her home to post it.

“I will never be able to truly believe that I am safe and I will always struggle to trust in people, their words and their actions,” she said.

The show recently featured a domestic violence segment and producers believe this might have prompted her to get in touch.